Please give a warm try to talk
Welcome to our guest Mr Derrick's now.

I.

Have to.

This is really a great pleasure for
me to have the chance to

come back to Georgia Tech and and
spend a little time with you today.

But I've actually got to thank you because
it's even given me more of an opportunity

to reflect back on kind of my
life's journey since I was

a student here solid thirty years ago it
at Georgia Tech and I can tell you that.

I could have never imagined.

The extraordinary people that I
would have the opportunity to meet.

The places that I would be able to visit

the situations that I would be involved
in that would ultimately impact.

This country and in certain cases
situations around the world.

And accomplish as part of
a teen some things that just

simply never were in plan
magination when I was a student and

I can tell you I had very lofty goals and
had great self-confidence in

what I thought I was able to do with
the world that's unfolded on that journey.

Has really been one that I've been
extraordinary blessed to be a participant.

And a few minutes I'm going to
ask you to join me on a journey.

As we look to create a what
I call human renaissance

in a you know a technology driven world.

Before I do that I want to kind of store
with with really where where we are today.

I think you know OK.

And I found something just reason.

And it's a little flowery because
you consul the political world.

But it kind of combines
a little bit of the liberal and

conservative view that the Republican and
Democratic Party.

That's that says the following
that the budget should be balanced

the Treasury should be refilled
public debt should be reduced

the arrogance of Fishel them should
be tempered and controlled and

you systems to foreign lands should be
Kircher tailed less the country become

bankrupt people must begin learn to work
instead of living off public assistance.

And if you look through that really
the essence of that kind of political

statement was all about jobs and
getting back to work.

And I can anybody tell me
who the politician was that

actually made that statement.

Roosevelt.

It's a good guess what else
what they could stab at it.

Cicero in fifty five B. say.

I think about that for a moment.

And and over two thousand
years we end up right back

with the same kind of problems that exist
in the world at that period of time.

Now what does that tell you about
human progress in human advancement

that we really haven't as
a society in many ways

solved some of the world's most
significant important problems.

I'm at heart a technologist and
a Futurist.

And I have every instinct I want
to get right to the point and

tell you why I believe
that human Renaissance and

a technology driven world is so
important for.

For society and for
the growth of of really human history.

But had another Earth flecked that another
piece of piece of advice that I got

when I was very young and it said May you
always look to the future with hope and

anticipation but remember and
respect the past and

I keep them from my dad when I was ten or
eleven years old.

And so before I really ask you
to participate in news Gerty and

kind of laying out why I think it's so
important I really want to reflect and

give you some one perspective on
life personal journey and why I feel

as I do and second to let you
experience some of the things

that I've been through and hopefully
they'll provide a learning environment for

you because we reflect back on Cicero we
really do need to look at the past and

often times there's so much we can learn
from it that we so well quickly passed by.

You know really all too often.

We go back.

I'm not going to talk to you about like
we're going to Penn State where I had my

undergraduate degree in Computer Science
in the seventy's I'll skip quickly past

the time I was here at Georgia Tech and
got my M.S. I am degree and

even the first decade of my career
I'm now in my early thirty's and

I'm Chief Financial Officer for one of the
really special companies had cleared here

in Atlanta Equifax and
I'm cold and by the chief.

Chief Executive Officer and

I'm offered a job I want you to think as
I talk about this would you take the job.

And Equifax had three operating businesses

two of which ran extraordinarily well and
then there was a third.

Serving the pedestrian insurance
industry providing arms and

legs around the country to
do various inspection or.

Aided.

And and other risk management services on
behalf of the insurance industry we have

fifteen thousand employees and the average
age of those employed employees were

fifty five plus now that's not to suggest
that employees are fifty five point

people on top of that but there
are a lot of labor laws that impact what

you can do when you're reorganizing
a workforce when you have people that

have that much experience as part
of the tenure of the business.

The revenue was several hundred
million dollars It was declining

fifteen percent annually.

Or.
Cashflow is negative and

we're losing tens of millions of dollars.

And the economic reality was
that we valued the enterprise.

At a negative fifty million dollars or
fifty million dollars in essence what

it was going to take to
shut down the business.

How many of you just quit showing
hands would like to step in and

run that business.

Nobody.

Well to tell you the truth had
I understood how bad it was.

In hindsight it would have taken the job.

But I didn't realize that and

as we all do we think we we
can accomplish things maybe.

More or
to foolish to recognize that we can't and

I decided to step into the business.

The truth is two executives
have lost their careers in

running this business a little last
five to ten year period of time.

And the key word for B.
was you know was I going to have a future.

And then a second point was could
we create a compelling future for

this business.

Fortunately I have a great friend and

associate who I'm going to
introduce to you later.

As part of of later in
the presentation call Dr Mike Cammy.

And Dr Kamei sent me a quote the kind
of help me as I was searching for how

to deal with this kind of very difficult
business and economic environment and

it was through Oliver Wendell Holmes That
said I would give I would not give

anything for simplicity on this side of
complexity but I would give everything for

simplicity on the other side of
complexity I can tell you that that one

quote is one of the most important piece
of advice I ever got my business career.

The bottom of the letter it also
said there's a simple solution for

every complex problem and
it's usually wrong.

So what do you do.

This was the bin one nine hundred
ninety S. And we're approaching the new

millennium everybody was talking about
Y2K and the issues that were associated

with Y2K and we had to figure out
how we were going to take the assets

of poise of very very struggling
business and try to turn it around.

And so we talked about what was happening
in the world and how our business could

impact in a positive way the trends
in issues that were facing society.

We called it risk Revolution two
thousand and let's say enough

as a result of this analysis I wrote
a book called risk revolution.

Co-author Vince Coppola
is actually here today

fence where you know there's
Vince Fitz help me write that book and.

And and it was a recognition that
the world was changing around us and

so I thought I would just give you a quick
overview of what was said because it's

going to lead to why I believe
the world's changing one more time and

why you've got a great opportunity but
there's.

Great challenge and to you and

the world that exists as you go
forward in your particular journey

the first is that the world's a risky
place to live work and do business.

Second information and

data analysis of the most powerful
weapons there to get risk.

Third.

Season rules will be created to deplane
the responsible use of information.

Forth standards a prudent behavior
will emerge to govern appropriate

conduct in managing risk and

lastly there be significant consequences
as a result of decisions you made in

this new environment of increasing
risk that was developing in society.

Now remember this was in fact.

The mid one nine hundred ninety S..

The key word risk.

The risk ruptures of society
were changing around us and

most people weren't
paying attention to it.

We worked hard and

after a couple year period of time we
were fortunate the revenue turnaround

cashflow turned positive in the business
was actually making a profit.

At that point in time our parent company
Equifax you know found us to be.

Interesting but in reality many of us
including my colleague here Michael rein.

We were a nuisance we were young
entrepreneurs that were breaking all

the rules and
while we were doing it respectfully.

In order to turn around the business we
had to respond in ways that were very

very different than the classic culture
in which we existed I was reliant by.

Someone here earlier.

About the fact that during that period of
time we had a very rigid dress code and

only I could find that dress code was
it didn't say anything if you had to

wear underwear.

And so I decided that I would not
wear any socks and as you can say for

the rest of my career except in very
unusual customer circumstances in order to

maintain respect in the business
environment I never wore socks again and

it was to demonstrate that while we wanted
to be following the rules if we was OK

to be different and that we were going to
have to be different in order to survive.

So Equifax decided that while we done
a good job a turnaround the business

it didn't fit it's all in term future.

And so the option was whether to
sell the business or whether or

not as we recommended that we spin
the business off into a separate publicly

traded company which the board of
directors ultimately decided to do.

Now when you're a public and and
the company was called Choice Point

the point in time when
a decision needed to be made.

And we understood that
as a public company.

Our obligation and our number one
obligation to our new shareholders was

to create shareholder value to give
them a return on their investment

that warranted their continued
belief in our overall business but

I got to tell you when you're going
public with a group of of associates

of which didn't have a lot of equity in
that business because a tax free spin off

literally creates the same shareholder
base on day one as you had previously.

You have to have something
more empowering and so

we decided that we were going
to be a business with a purpose.

And that we would spin off.

And then we would really try to make
sure that we were going to serve a cause

greater than ourselves.

That's interesting the very
first day that we went public so

on Finally as you know an important
part of my career I was chairman and

C.E.O. of a public company
I get to my desk and

as a letter from a very respected
Atlanta businessman a great friend

of Georgia Tech wonderful
philanthropist named John I'm like.

And I'm very excited because
I soon he's going to

tell me you know how proud he was of me
and what I've been able to achieve and

good luck a letter basically
said the following.

Remember the higher up
the pole the monkey goes

the more of your more
of his ass you can see.

And he said Remember what people
are looking at when they look up to you.

Pretty interesting advice when you really
sit sit back and think about that.

We needed to be a business that
was more about something that was

greater than ourselves
we created a mission.

To create a safer more secure society
through the responsible use of

information.

We made a commitment that we would
be one of the most important

information risk technology
companies in the world.

And that's a obviously of a bold and
kind of brash statement to make and

an aspiration to have but
it's interesting as a public company

one of the most important first steps you
have to do is have a board of directors.

That is supportive and it's capable of
of really giving you not only advice but

also guidance is you as you go through
the early stages your public career.

We had an incredibly diverse
talented board but for

those people I'll give you an example.

We're titans of of
American business to the.

Cofounders Home Depot can land go on and
Bernie Marcus One was an astronaut

Colonel Frank Borman and the other
was the vice chairman of Wal-Mart

one of the largest corporations in
the world I think about that for a moment

we went from five years earlier where it
was a completely unprofitable business

that nobody wanted to a public company
in which some of the real business icons

of of of this country wanted to
participate on the board Why was that.

It had to do with that last
part of that sentence which is

all of us including the most
successful people around.

Want to be part of something that they can
feel is really giving back and to create

a safer society at a time when the world
was becoming more risky was a passion in

which those gentleman we had a very great
set of female directors as well had.

I could have never drained that five years

those are the kind of associates that I'd
have the opportunity to work with and

eat and be part of you know
our new public company.

A decade goes by and
we were very fortunate in that we had

you know it's a tremendous positive growth
a lot of exciting things happen some

things that were challenging to happen I
can remember having to go to testify and

Washington D.C.
about issues regarding data privacy and

security so I can fully understand
what that Target C.E.O.

is about ready to go through when he
has to go go go to Washington and

talk about the recent challenges
from a data privacy and

security standpoint but
overall it was a tremendous run.

By.

And with some incredibly talent.

People a decade later we sold the business
for a little over four billion

dollars And what's most interesting
about that is that we sold it for

all cash on the week that Lehman Brothers
went bankrupt in two thousand and eight.

The last major transaction
that was literally made.

Before the markets crashed by
generally some fifty percent.

We lived up to the obligation that
we had to create shareholder value.

But the truth is.

That the risk revolution that we
talked about had really taken full

hold in society and some of
the things that we participated in.

Really were defining the very
nature of risk in our country

we helped the dinner fire who
the snipers were in Washington D.C..

And helped the Maryland state
police capture those snipers.

And the last five years we brought
back a thousand kidnapped kids.

One of all initials and

see who was kidnapped from his
hospital when he was one day old.

Can you imagine as a young mother and
father.

One day into this exciting time in
your life finding out that somebody is

into Das Kapital pretended to be you and
kidnapped your new baby.

Fortunately through data that
we were able to acquire and and

other networking capabilities we
were able to locate the person

who had taken the child and
he was brought back within two days.

I thousand kidnapped it made a difference
to who we were and what we're doing.

And then there was the one of
the most significant moments of

my business career Sept.

Amber eleventh two thousand and one.

Shortly thereafter from those
tragic terrorist attacks

some two weeks I was one of the few
civilian people that was inside

of the barricaded area when
they were going through the X.

the excavation of the devastation
that took place and I was there with

former police commissioner Howard Safer I
can't describe to you how I felt

I can tell you what I saw but
I can't tell you the impact that it had

on my life and
the world that I saw that was evolving.

Just two months later we got
the contract for the Maryland from

the New York State Forensic the port for
the D.N.A. analysis for.

Prana lising the bones that came bones
of the bone samples that came out of

that particular tragedy.

We had a room that we
called the bone room.

And in that room were thirty
thousand tubes just like this.

Holding bone samples that were.

Just small pieces of the remains
of the victims of of nine eleven.

We had to find through razor blades and
hair and others D.N.A. reference material.

To be able to create the D.N.A.
profile of potential victims and

then match it against bones that were
held in one of the thirty thousand tubes

we had bene five over
eighteen hundred people.

Who had tragically died as part of that.

You couldn't leave the Boehner room
the same as when you walked into it.

And so
despite the financial success the choice.

Point had.

I was struggling.

I was trying to understand what
was going on in the world.

That could cause this situation to happen
that I could be seeing the real human

impacts of this risk revolution
that we talked about years before.

And one of the conclusions.

That I came to was that we as a society
were living in a new reality.

And that reality is that.

The world.

Was an unsettled an angry place.

But I didn't really still understand why.

And so I decided to take some time.

And visited with my good
friend I talked to before.

My calving Mike was the head
strategic planner for I.B.M.

in the early days of old Mr Watson.

He was named by Peter Drucker.

Who hopefully many of you know is
kind of the girl rule of law and

business philosophy and theory as.

The greatest strategic
planner that he'd ever et.

And I spent a couple years with Mike
trying to figure out the to that question

which is why is the world so
unsettled Why is the anger

increasing Why is the risk in
society moving at a different pace.

And Mike's belief was that.

We are entering an era that he
call the exponential society.

And briefly I want to talk to you about
that exponential society because it's got

a huge impact on where we are today and
the issues that we're facing.

This was in the early two thousand.

And the question about
the exponential society was

one of the macro forces that
are impacting human behavior.

That will become evident over the next
ten fifteen twenty five years.

I'll let you decide when I'm
done how prescient Dr Cammy was.

The first one the compression of time.

Everything is moving faster speed matters.

But not only speed to
accomplish speed to respond

because the world was changing in
a way that you couldn't predict it and

therefore the faster you could
move in response he believed

that more critical your ability to deal
with the future that was unfolding

the second point the amplitude
of radical change.

I don't know how many of you
read the book The Black Swan.

It talks about probability
distributions of radical change and

the theory is that these black
swan events occur infrequently.

But they're part of an inevitable
cycle of of risk and change.

The only problem is that.

In this era the Black Swan
is becoming a regular event.

And that in fact the hundred year event
is happening every year every five years.

The third one was the speed of
human mobility and conduct of it.

We can be anywhere in the world and
go on again in twenty four hours.

We can be connected with anyone around
the world with perfect information and

the ability to move message
amounts of resources.

It's never been true and
human history before.

We were in at the time what a lot of
people would call the information age.

And what we believed was that we were
going to leave the information age and

we were going to move
to the attention age.

Because there was so
much information that was available

that it was a it was a much more difficult
challenge to get your attention.

Than it was to drive information to you
that might be necessary to help you make

a decision because no matter how
much information that I had.

If you weren't paying
attention it was irrelevant.

And at the same time that
influence that influence it

generally was under command and control
structures whether that was in business or

in governments or
in communities was going to shift.

From a centralized environment to a very
decent realized asynchronous environment.

Something called the death a place.

Of I ask another couple of questions
places always been very important in our

lives it's where most of our culture most
of our values most of all our moral.

Beliefs are given from
generation to generation.

Where are some of the key
places through human history

where that cultural moral
value transfer takes place.

The one.

And exactly right the religious
institution the church is exactly one

about another.

Yes.

The home family.

That's correct home all right so
the home the church

there's two more that
are kind of central to.

Issues throughout human history.

School very good OK School.

The last ones a lot more complex but will
say that's exactly right nation states

very good I'm home the church
the school and the nation state.

The belief was that.

Number one the home is becoming
more of a glorified hotel

you eat sleep apart in your computer.

There are more people that actually
attend religious services either through

television or online than actually go to
the physical church in today's world.

And many cases the school is so
riddled with rules and

issues in concerns that
voicing certain value

kinds of questions has been taken out
of the school curriculum and concerns.

And the nation state which used to
be able to control the message.

Is now have influence that comes in
that overwhelms any government's

ability to singularly influence its
population the death the place.

We now get that cultural interchange from
places like Facebook Twitter Pinterest.

Whole change and
how the cultural trends for

of values wisdom and
knowledge would take place.

And the last one is
the power of destruction.

That we live in a world where.

The ability to strong AI
on a physical financial.

And emotional standpoint.

Once reserved for
the mightiest of nations and

armies is now in the hands of
small groups and individuals.

The exponential suppose society.

You could be anywhere at any time
change happening dramatically

the ability to transfer resources
any place connected with others.

Of.

The ability to influence people on one
president had levels different mechanisms

in which to transfer value and
and the ability destroy on and on

levels that human history had never found
evident except in very centralised powers

extraordinarily different world that might
predicted in the early two thousand or

now you know almost fifteen
years into that and

I would suggest that the world
he saw it coming was very true.

Can anybody tell me what the driver is

of almost all of those changes
based on exponential society.

That's correct that Knology right
it's the exponential growth and

change of technology has
been the singles greatest

influence on changing
a restructuring in our society.

And here I'm going to say something
that is going to look like hyperbole but

I believe this.

With every part of my fabric the greatest

challenge facing society today
the single greatest challenge.

Is the unrelenting
technological advancement.

And the human capacity we as people

to deal with it's often
unpredictable consequences.

Technology is growing at
an exponential rate and

we're growing at a human genetic rate and
despite great advances in education and

communication in the light we still.

Cannot keep up.

With that particular curve.

And it's created an alarming get.

If you think about home and
when technology and

what we know how to do
with it are in sync.

We live in great abundance.

It really AIDS what we're doing and
Vance's the state of of human progress.

But is one's ability to deal
with what's happening and

the technological world around
them starts to get further and

further then one's ability
to understand things change

radically the first thing that
happens is that we kind of get busy

because we don't really want to have
to deal with it so we kind of ignore it

we kind of distract ourselves and
it gives us some kind of a comfort.

We go from there the something cold
indifference now for those of you who

followed the pope lately he's talked about
a society that is becoming increasingly.

Indifferent to the challenges particularly
of the poor and the disadvantages in our

society he's talked a lot about
capitalism is impact on that and

while I won't agree or disagree with that
I will tell you that I believe that so

much of the indifference in the world
tones from this gap between what

technology can do and not simply
those that understand technology but

from how we deal with it on
a one in one personal level.

When the gap is too great
we simply get known.

We get in different we get introspective
instead of looking at some

of the greater issues that go around us
and then ultimately when technology and

our ability to deal with it get
way out of whack we get fearful.

And in the case of any nation states
on religious and cultural philosophies

when it gets completely
uncontrollable we end up in violence.

And I would suggest to you
as I will of a few minutes

that while I am in no way suggesting
that technology not only will but

that it should continue to grow and
the accidential way in which its its.

It is headed today.

It is that we are so

focused on at the curve of technology
Remember I'm a technologist at heart.

And if we don't deal with
the human side of technology.

That we will end up in a world that
becomes more complex more dangerous and

more difficult as the days go by.

Technology has changed
the underlying nature of risk.

Not just risk from.

A personal standpoint of for
societal standpoint but it's also changed

the nature of success for individuals
businesses governments and societies.

We live today in an era super fast change.

And this important implications to that.

The most important I'd like you to think
about is that that world of the risk

revolution I talked about and
the changes we saw in society.

Has now moved from risk
management to crisis mitigation.

We are a world that moves and
is motivated by crisis.

Got a radical change on both

your personal lives your business futures
in the world in which we live and.

I.
Don't know if anybody

knows what the Chinese symbol for
crisis looks like.

But there it is.

It's made of actually two words
does anybody know what that is.

What opportunities one that's right.

Now close he what he
felt opportunities one.

Yes.

No.

Danger.

Danger and opportunity.

And I thought one of our former presidents
John F. Kennedy had a great quote.

Said in crisis be aware that day.

Be aware the danger but
recognize the opportunity.

I want to spend a few minutes
talking about a crisis and

then why I believe that this human
renaissance is inevitable and

then we'll move to a period
of questions and answers.

Let me return for

a moment to that risk curve that we
talked about and risk revolution.

In this case it's a little exaggerated
in terms of its its vertical growth.

But risk exists in the world.

In a different way and

a different structure than it ever
has as I said before from technology.

And here's what's happening because
of the compression of time.

Because of this radical.

Magnitude of change and
its implications all of us.

Start managing our lives in smaller and
smaller increments now for those of you

that are risk management experts if you
want to look at a risk curve and you're

looking at a very small piece of that
curve where is the best point of utility.

Where will you find yourself generally
when you're looking at smaller and

smaller MC coolest any curve.

You look in you'll get you actually move
up right you're going to end up taking

more risk and the reason you take more
risk is because your only concern

with this moment and risk is about
time it's about a period of time.

Some examples you think about
Hurricane Katrina and the levees.

It was going to cost billions of
dollars to fix the levees of which they

knew a Category five
hurricane would come in and

signal significantly destroyed
part of the city of New Orleans.

But a hurricane Category
five a hundred year event.

So the likelihood of a hurricane in
any one year was essential eighty

one percent so
why spend the billions of dollars.

When it's likelihood of it happening
during anyone's particular watch is low.

By the way that's also true of
Social Security it's true of

the nation's debt structure it's true of
your health if you're eating unhealthily

you'll all tend to take more risks and to
all of a sudden you hit that crisis point.

And the crisis will come because
you're taking excess risk.

So the first thing that happens
when you're in a crisis is

you obviously have to respond
as quickly and as effectively.

If you can.

What happens next what's the second
thing often in concert with

on what the response to a crisis.

What.

Recovery no.

Anybody.

Say if I'm right when you
find yourself in a crisis.

You don't want to be your fault right.

So guess what.

You got to find somebody to blame
because it can't be my fault.

I.
Bought a house that was

more than I could afford
somebody sold me that house

why did they sell me that
house it wasn't my fault.

We're society in crisis
that the first thing we do

after we respond is
figure out who to blame.

Now why do we want to do that
what's the next thing we do.

What's that.

Well I would argue it different but
what she said was You get a whole people

accountable and the answer is yes you
want to hold people accountable for

these reasons you want to be compensated
for it right if it's not going full and

bends the blame you owe me and
I want to be counted

you know I want to be compensated for
that the risk that I took.

Now if you take excess risk and
you hit one of those risk events.

And you are compensated even though you
took risks beyond what you should of

what's the likelihood you're
going to do the next time.

Right guess what.

You could go up the curve again right

because as time compresses you get
right back on the curve that says the.

No I'm getting the most utility
by moving up the risk curve again

only this time the cycle repeats itself
and generally the crisis is big.

Sound familiar with a lot of the key
problems we have in our country today

let's blame somebody let's compensate
it and then let's hope that during my

watch it doesn't come back again and I'll
let someone else deal with the problem.

And then.

Ultimately what happens is you
end up in catastrophic crisis

the only way out of that
cycle is catastrophic crisis.

This is the world that
you're living in today.

You are flecked for

a while you'll see it everyplace around
you the only way out of this cycle.

Is one you have to have perspective.

Two you have to have patience and
perseverance.

And third you have to be
willing to take pain.

Because risk involves things not
happening the way you wanted to so

society and individuals can learn so that
you don't take unnecessary risks again.

But if we refuse to have.

A longer term perspective if
we refuse to have patience and

watching these things happen and

more importing else none of
us want to take the pain.

The only way we're going to end up out of
this cycle is through catastrophic crisis.

That is going to call into society today.

I believe we're and
impro Ching inflection point.

Risk is being driven by technology.

Our response is being driven by the ice.

Killen kind of need to make sure
that someone else is accountable.

The desire to take a shorter
term perspective and

we're going to have to make
a decision as a society.

And that is Will technology or amenity be
the primary influencer of societal change.

Well technology or humanity.

Be the ultimate primary influence or
of societal advancement.

I wonder how often you've
thought about that.

I know how hard in a school like Georgia
Tech we think about the technological

question how often that we think
about the societal question.

But here's the opportunity and this is the
journey I'd like to challenge all of you

to think about it participate with me and
that is the opportunity

inside of this crisis is that
I believe we're at the dawn

of a new era why because you can't
live in constant crisis forever

the human body the human
experience simply cannot absorb.

And we don't have enough time to
let our bodies transition and or

to live in a state of constant crisis and
that is that there will be a new era.

And it will be a ushered in by a new human
renaissance that will make our world.

For the better.

What do I mean.

It's going to take some extraordinary
people informed and inspired people.

Are the most important resource in
solving these complex issues of our time.

But unlike the first Renaissance.

Which was driven by poets and
writers and artists and musicians.

This human renaissance is going to be
driven by technologists engineers and

scientists.

Because without an understanding.

Of that top curve and
the impact of what technology is can and

will do to our lives we
simply can't understand

how to deal with the societal
questions it will face it's.

So you're at a tremendous point right
now to make a choice as to whether or

not you will be one of those informed and
lighten people

they're going to step up and usher us into
this new era of of a human Renaissance.

I think it's time for
a new worldwide pioneer.

I think they'll be two types of pioneers
there may be a lot more but I really only

in my last few minutes here have a couple
I want to talk about the first one

you can see here is the seekers and what
they're going to look for is the humanity.

The human purpose behind
the technology that we're creating.

And in doing so are going to make
a real difference in the world.

And no place have I said that while
they're doing this that there won't be

economic and capital opportunity
that goes right along with that.

In fact I would tell you and

I think I'm a good example that when we
create a business that we felt was greater

than ourselves the economic value to our
shareholders was substantial in doing that

the second will be the recognizers and
that is that when the crisis occurs.

They will be the ones
that take advantage of.

Your ability to respond to crisis
will be one of the most important

assets you have in your value equation

to your employer your family into
the communities in which you live in.

It's not easy to be calm to respond and

deal with those moments
that are in crisis.

But it's one of the great skills
that are going to be necessary.

He talked at the beginning about one of
the initiatives that I'm involved in and

it's easy to be a philosopher
particularly talking about

things that are going to
happen if you are because

very often nobody holds you accountable
to what you say or what you think.

Will another thing you know
Dr Kamei told me was that

vision without action is a hallucination.

This isn't without action
is a hallucination

you got to cause something to happen.

One of the things that I've done and
order to help start and

and demonstrate the power of this
human renaissance is to create.

An organization called giving point.

We have close to eight thousand people.

Our director executive director or

and is sitting right here in the front
row where we're teaching young kids

thirteen to their early twenty's
to be social entrepreneurs.

To help them understand that instead of
talking about capitalism on one side and

being the social problems and
humanitarians on the other.

And it's the coming together of
of purpose and capital to make

a difference that's going to really change
your society for the better going forward.

And so what I thought I do is share.

Or just two quick stories of two
of those eight thousand people.

And their journey to make
this human Renaissance real.

The first one happens to be one of
the students right here Georgia Tech Chris

are you Chris was coming I don't
know whether he made it or not.

Chris Long is a.

Is a student here is
a freshman here Georgia Tech.

He took a couple of trips wanted to
mimic and Republican one to Taiwan and

he had one of those
moments much like I did

sitting there in the bone room looking
at those remains from nine eleven and

he said I don't understand much of
the poverty that I see around the and

in fact much of that poverty is driven
by their lack of affordable power.

And he said I want to
do something about it.

And he came back and he's participating
with one of the programs here in fact

the Georgia Tech to actually create
renewable energy particularly solar so

that he can bring loped
cost of fission power

the places in the world that simply
can't afford the energy costs.

That's a social entrepreneur seeking
a solution to a problem he sees in

the world and getting involved.

And making a meaningful difference.

The second one is kinda Raven Kent
is now at Spelman College.

Can't he wanted thirteen.

Became pregnant.

And.

She had a very very
difficult decision to make.

And with the support of her family.

And those around her.

She.
She decided that she was going to stay in

school and that she was going to
deal with being a young teenage mom.

And understand the challenges and

deal with the issues associated
with being a single teenage mom.

She said she suddenly saw other women
in the shadow she never saw before who

are also young teenage moms
that are same high school.

She said she never song before.

Or she decided while she was in school.

To join giving point.

And created something called
Joshua's closet Joshua's closet was

a program to help other unwed teenage
moms do deal first with the psychological

challenges that they were going through
most of dealing with self-esteem.

And then teach them some financial
resources and ultimately provide them.

Through donations and other things simple
little things like diapers includes and

other things that they had to work for and

that were likely to keep them from
maintaining going through school.

Extraordinary.

As a young woman that by all
expectation in a middle of crisis

could have found herself without
a high school education and

with potentially a very challenging and
limited future and what she did.

Was instead created not for profit.

And is impacting the lives of so

many other women that she walked by
every day and she said she never saw.

The humanity underneath.

The society in which we live
in today it's possible.

Not only is it possible.

I think it's one of the most exciting
opportunities that you have.

Before.

I.
Started kind of the presentation

recognizing for most of you it's about
a job it's about what do you do when you

leave here as a student and
Stuart your journey because

I know your journey and the one that I'm
on in fact the one that continues with me.

Is forefront on your mind.

But I would suggest to you that.

And or even or
free the opportunity to buy a ticket.

To buy a ticket on a ride
that will change your life.

A.
Ride where you will meet people.

That are simply extraordinary that you
will go places that you could have

never imagined that you prefer to subpoena
vents that will influence the lives

of people and potentially situations
that happen around the world and

you'll accomplish things with
other people you never dreamed.

If you're able to harness
not only your passion.

But if you'll take your passion and
add it with a purpose.

You have all the economic opportunity
in front of you and at the same time

you can make a difference in your life and
in the lives of so many people around you.

And one of the most extraordinary
things that I feel proud of is.

That my journey today and
to philanthropies working with.

Nonprofit and societal issues is that
I've met the most extraordinary people.

Incredible people they may not
be the same household names that

I talked about earlier but
these are people that in and

of themselves are making
a difference in the world.

And they're happy and
they feel a sense of purpose and

so and you can't leave them without

well on an incredible energy level
this is writing a new book with me

on some of those people right now
this in natural you leave them power.

Work.

There.

You an.

Edge.

We're.

OK.

You.

So even if you're in a position where
economically there's a specific skill that

you've got to take care of the take your
yourself in your family I respect that I

understand that's in fact what I did but I
want you to keep in the back of your mind

this growing human renaissance that there
always be a time for you to buy a ticket

and it will be a ride in which you will
never forget and you'll never regret.

Thank you very much and I'll be glad
to answer any questions you might have

AM Thank you.

So much.

My name's Luke's not ARMA alumnus here and

you've been very successful in the
business we're in the technology world and

now you're in the suits in
biotechnology nonprofit.

How and why did you start giving
point in what's made it successful.

We we started I said not.

We started giving point because of
a recognition of the power of social

entrepreneurship and that very few young
people had the guidance that they needed

that they have the passion to do good and

in fact in many ways they've
seen a society such that

they want to participate in
in either a not for profit or

a or a socially responsible place but
they truly don't know how to do it

the real challenge for most young
people in the philanthropic world

is that you're free
resource All right that and

it's a sad thing to say but we harness the
energy to young people to do our purpose.

And what we never ask is What
do you care about all right and

help you fulfill your purpose and your
passion our purpose isn't any one cause

it's young people who want to give
back that need mentoring that

need leadership and cut in the guy
it's only first created getting point.

I thought if we built a technological and
social network solution which we did

which would teach them social
entrepreneurship and would provide

resources to help them go forward that
the generation would just take off.

We were wrong.

They needed a human
infrastructure to make it work and

when we matched people with technology and
with the young energy and

crane and amazing things like
happened with Chris and Qian So

we created giving point to help
you follow your passion and

not try to get you the follow mine and
that's really what the human renaissance

is all about your passions all right and
one of the saddest things

if I've got a minute here is
when I go around and talked.

A lot of people about
social entrepreneurship

I ask them the following question
What do you passion about.

Not many very many people can
answer it in a real thoughtful way.

And I'd encourage if you take nothing else
out of our few minutes together today.

Figure it out what
are you passionate about.

And if you can match it with
a purpose greater than yourselves

I'll see you in ten or twenty years and

you'll Baedeker incredible difference
in the world I promise you that.

Hi I'm a teacher and I run my classes

as service learning classes and
I would love to work

with your organization to run
my classes I'm wondering if

how hard that age twenty four cap is
if I have older students are there

going you'll decide I'll take I'll tell
you the interesting thing about that cap

OK it started as thirteen to
eighteen because we really

wanted to one of the things that giving
point does we create your civic résumé.

We found young people and
maybe you'll still think about yourself

young people when they're
preparing to apply for

college they suddenly get this
great you know Service heart

because they know that that resumes
going to say what have you done and

what have you given back to the world
you would like to tell us about.

And what giving point does is it
tracks as your social service and

creates an actual resume
that's validated and verified.

That says these are the things that you
worked on when you were thirteen fifty.

It tracks the number of hours
attracts the money you raise

it can show the pictures and the people
that you have participated in and

they get to your point
was that we had our first

group kind of graduate that went to
college just as these young people did and

they said wait a minute we don't want to
stop and so the cap is essentially or

ever the young generation takes it it's
not a case of there is a philosophical

limit there's a younger limit because
there's privacy laws that we have to deal

with than in the whole social community
that restricts your ability to do some

things with really younger say
grade school related kids but

Miranda would love to talk
to you when we're done and

we do service learning projects with all
kinds of different organizations and

we would welcome any of you all right or

any of the groups that you're
involved in to participate with us.

In any way you'd like to.

Say.

Hi My name is you eat and my question is
regarding the human in the sun that you

were mentioning that lake house speakers
would be looking into humanity beneath

the technology it's a really positive
consent are there any potential risks or

any reasons that distance I could feel or
not take place at all.

Well I think the biggest challenge
goes back to the that inflection

point that I talked about which is and

we're close to it all right which is
who's in control and we get to a point

where technology is driving the essence
of who you are as a person.

We would have lost the opportunity for
your residence.

In a recent study said that among.

Intimate friends it's now
close to fifty percent would

interrupt certain behavior if
they received a Social Text.

Or otherwise you know
social communication.

A human experience
a technological impulse and

a decision to make as to
which is more important so

what I would suggest to you is the biggest
challenge comes down to the individual

person that if we can get enough critical
mass of people that go the reason

technology exists should be to create
a better world for us all to live in.

And sometimes we forgotten to
say what is that world and

I'm not here to define it you you
see there's no place here I've said

this is the better world and you have
to follow that world what I'm saying is

in your own mind you've got to
define what a better world is and

the more it is about caring about
things greater than yourselves the more

that's going to come together and
create I think an environment that is.

Compassionate caring and

has a collective news to it
that doesn't exist today and so

the real challenge is can we find
enough people that truly believe that

this human renaissance is necessary before
technology takes over to a point were

ruled numb to it and
we can no longer respond and

that's why I think it's so important today
to talk to you and others like you that

weird of we're we're not necessarily there
at this moment but remember at risk curve

that said I don't know when that crisis
and inflection points going to hit and

and I encourage you all think about
that hopefully it'll never happen on

a positive side if I can end your question
on it is throughout human history.

We've always managed to
find those great players

that despite all odds change the course
of human history for the better and

I believe it's going to happen
again I don't know who they are.

But I'd like to fly.

In them and I'd like to say it's on
point i least knew one more piece or

participate and
help them think about the problem.

Derek and I have I have one last question
from myself actually I want to talk

about your socks so so
I would I would qualify it as

an act of rebellion possibly a small act
of rebellion but certainly a risk so

you've talked a little bit about risk
today and and like to know at least within

the lens of students here who are about
to go into their jobs find careers that

at what point in your career did you did
you an act this active rebellion and

if you had any advice for the students
in terms of should they actually

act in a small way a little
bit in a rebellious way OK.

The way that the way that came
about where I stopped wearing socks

was that I knew at that time
of an essence business crisis

that we were underway that if
I looked the same as everybody

else that was going to deliver the message
regardless of whatever that message was

that they weren't going to listen to the
message because I was going to look and

act like everyone is a color for me maybe
a little younger maybe a little different

I had to show that I wasn't the same and

that I wasn't afraid in the context
of looking at everyone else

that being different was OK all right and
in fact it was encouraged and

why I tried to be respectful about it
you're exactly right it was saying

I'm going to do it differently we're
not going to do it the same and

in your own individual ways you're going
to have to do it differently too and

the more anyone whether it's a company or

society says you have
to conform without you.

Understanding why simply because
it's the way it works and

you're going to give up a lot of not only
your individuality but you're going to

give up a lot of your opportunity to lead
to impress and ultimately create change.

I mean change is good it's hard
it's difficult superfast change

can be very complex as I said before but
don't be afraid to be yourself and

here's the real key most
people don't want to change so

the fact that you do they don't
even really take you on are right

they really don't all right and
deep down they kind of go wow

I wish I had the guts to do that you
know I wish it was OK that I did that.

And I can tell you that it's it's
empowering right I mean it's.

I don't know where the where was the the
young lady that talked about my socks is

that right there your right so your was
your debt OK so before she came today

heard that I was speaking her dad said
find out if he's wearing his sucks OK.

That store did years ago but
it's carried on now and for

the entire current I couldn't put socks on
in the office because they would have said

something's happened all right so

it's a great point all right
here's Pierce back for OK I mean

I didn't do something that was so you know
out of the box that people dismissed me

as being there was one other thing I did
which I didn't say I actually had you know

because we were a very kind of straight
forward conservative company and so

we had to wear you know shirts and ties
if I would have opened up got a logo but

it opened up actually
the logo of Mickey Mouse.

On all of my shirts too because to me
Mickey Mouse represented imagination.

Innovation and fun.

And so when I left all these
discussions every one of them said

I'm not sure what he said but
he sure is different and

maybe we all want to at least pay
attention to what he's doing and

I encourage everyone to you you
know social liberalism is Qana

you know human Renaissance
it's different right and

people are going to say wait a minute
now you know this is the time for

your you know it's all about capitalism
it's all about you it's all about

how what you can acquire and it may be for
you I'm not here to criticize that but

if you're that person that wants
to be a little different and

follow a new path I mean take off
your socks it's OK right I mean do

something a little bit different and now
literally thousands of people know me by

nothing more than the fact I don't wear
any socks and that's OK You know what.

I kind joy it's kind of fun.

To look at thank you and so

it appears there's one last question but
yes is it quick.

Yeah very quickly what what what Ben asked
about was well then why are you involved

in something called the game
of golf Institute and

actually goes right back to this entry
question about my socks all right because

the truth is the golf is one
of the most on traditional.

Policy Laden yet

magnificent sports that has
taught me lessons about

life that I can't you know possibly relate
to you probably my social network and

so many of great experiences but
the game has not.

Sided to embrace the technological
revolution it stayed away from

understanding the changes in society that
people have less time that they're more

hopeful that they want to communicate
more all the things that technology drove

golf represents the exact
opposite the exact opposite OK.

So you know what's fun.

Take it all the societal behaviors and

all the things that I
believe are going to happen.

And apply them against one of
the oldest most traditional.

Sports yet I believe important valuable
and and personally interesting to me.

And we're going to see
been whether we can.

Have some fun at the recreational level

to reinvigorate a game that's losing five
percent of its participants every year.

Because your generation goes
golf Why do I want to play golf.

And I would tell you that
there's a lot of reasons why

it's an incredibly empowering and
wonderful sport but

in order to get you to want to play we got
to make it more fun we got to make it more

interesting we got to make it faster we've
got to change the essence of the game.

It's what I do OK I like take it on
challenges that nobody else wants to do

see whether or not we can make it work and
I don't know the people that run golf

are great people they're very passionate
and they're very good but this is a cause

that I care about and so we're going to
apply the very things we talked about here

to one of the most traditional lists of
of all sports and stay tuned we'll let

you know what happens thank you so
much thank you very much indeed.